This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order
presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution
to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about
permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ feels familiar; Sturgill Simpson gives us eye candy with little story

There is a seductive, grounded nature to the opening of Jim Mickle’s “In the Shadow of the Moon,” which starts off as a gritty cop story set in Philadelphia, starring Boyd Holbrook as Locke, a beat cop with loftier ambitions, and Michael C. Hall as his detective brother-in-law, Holt.

There is nice work in the setup to this Netflix film that then quickly goes off into more fantastic territory, as it slowly reveals itself as a mystery that mixes a hunt for a serial killer and time travel.

If you are anything like me, that’s a plot device you’re probably sick of — it has become an overused trope. While I am more than willing to go along with whatever convoluted explanations there are in any film’s world building, these stories have to hew to the internal logic that they construct, as opposed to leaving truck-sized plot holes that I have trouble getting past (cough, cough, on your left, “Avengers: Endgame”).

Smartly, this movie doesn’t really bother to spend too much time on how it works, and it doesn’t really matter. The story is focused on Holbrook’s descent into obsession, chasing and trying to stop Cleopatra Coleman’s mysterious villain.

Holbrook does a decent job in his flipped “Timecop” role, although he’s hampered by some of the ways Mickle chooses to show the passage of time, like Locke’s stringy hair and beard growing more hirsute over time. It’s one of the cheesier things about “In the Shadow of the Moon” — that, and the references to pro basketball’s ‘76ers.

This film does have aspirations to be smarter than it is, with its twist-oriented ending that is meant to evoke some classic philosophical questions, but spends the majority of its 115-minute running time involved in the cat-and-mouse chase between cop and crook.

Sturgill Simpson presents Sound & Fury

(Netflix)

Get more of what matters in your inbox

Start your morning with everything you need to know, and nothing you don't. Sign up for First Up, the Star's new daily email newsletter.

A country singer on the rise, Simpson is the latest to embrace the visual album, releasing this on Netflix to coincide with the release of this fourth album. What’s different here is that Simpson decided to work with a number of animators from Japan to create the visuals to accompany his music.

I’m on record as thinking these things are pretty silly — just overlong music videos that come off a lot like trying to put a TV show on the radio, resulting in an odd-fitting thing that doesn’t really work in either medium.

The anime features many of the tropes that you’ve come to expect from that genre — things like samurais, assassins, ultra-violence, gratuitous sexuality, a post-apocalyptic setting and no real need to make narrative sense.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s all very cool looking and works great as eye candy. One of the things I wonder about a lot of TV creations these days is who it’s for, and in terms of the visuals, “Sturgill Simpson Presents Sound & Fury” is clearly for animation fans and stoners.

I’m not sure how much of a crossover there is with those crowds and Simpson’s traditional audience, but he is an artist who is pushing boundaries and while this is high quality anime with some stunning visuals, and Simpson’s soundtrack is fine, it doesn’t really feel like a successful marriage or something more profound experienced together.

Raju Mudhar is a Toronto-based reporter covering popular culture at the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @rajumudhar

More from The Star & Partners

More Entertainment

Top Stories

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All
rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is
expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto
Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of
Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com